Get involved in the 2013 GLOBE at Night Adopt-a-Street program

Are you passionate about Dark Skies? Consider coordinating an Adopt-a-Street program in your area during the 2013 GLOBE at Night campaign.

What is the Adopt-a-Street Program?

GLOBE at Night offers a "Call to Action" for those who want to take more measurements during the campaigns. Children and adults can "Adopt a Street" in their town to take visual and possibly sky-brightness meter measurements during the GLOBE at Night campaigns. The aim is for people to adopt a different major or semi-major street and take measurements every mile or so for the length of the street (or for as long as they can). The grid of measurements will canvas the town, allowing for research later in comparison to wildlife, health, energy consumption and cost, among other things.

What do I do as the Adopt-a-Street coordinator for my city?

As the Adopt-a-Street coordinator, you will have several responsibilities.

In the form below you will need to provide your name and email address for contact purposes and to initiate the process.

Next you'll need to look over the instruction text (see sample text below) that will appear on your city's Adopt-a-Street web page and make any changes needed for your locale.

We will ideally need 25 street names that cover your city in a grid or "spokes on a wheel" formation. (Include as many streets as possible.) These should be main streets, about a mile apart. For cities that more or less form a grid, choose streets that are parallel to each other (e.g., all streets on your list should be East/West or North/South, but not both).

Once you have provided this information to us, we will create an Adopt-a-Street page for your city, and send you the URL for that web page. Find people in your city to commit to adopting one or more streets by visiting the page and signing up. It's as simple as entering their email address next to the street they wish to cover sometime during the 2013 campaign.

How do I recruit people to participate?

Advertise to groups in your area. Potential participants can be found in local amateur astronomy groups, schools, and even the Girl Scouts (this program counts towards earning their Night Owl badge).

How do I sign up?

Fill out the form below to get started.

Name:

Email:

City:

State/Country:

Instructions:
(Copy and paste the instructions for your city into the text area below)

List of Street Names:
(Copy and paste the list of street names for your city into the text area below)

Sample Instructional Text

Modify the text below for your city, then cut and paste into "Instructions" section on the form above:

ADOPT-A-STREET PROGRAM DURING THE GLOBE AT NIGHT 2013 CAMPAIGN

GLOBE at Night offers a "Call to Action" for those who want to take more measurements during the campaigns. Children and adults can "Adopt a Street" in their town to take visual sky-brightness measurements during the GLOBE at Night campaigns. The aim is for people to adopt a different major or semi-major street and take measurements every mile or so for the length of the street (or for as long as they can). The grid of measurements will canvas the town, allowing for research later in comparison to wildlife, health, energy consumption and cost, among other things.

Below, type your email address into the box next to the street you are adopting. Click the Submit button and you will be signed up. Your email address will not be shared on this site or with any other parties. Once a street has been signed up for, it will be stamped "ADOPTED." Once you have signed up for a particular road:

1. Try to measure sky brightness every mile along the road you chose.

2. To measure sky brightness, observe Orion in January through March and Leo in April and May and match what you see to the charts. Make sure to record the chart selected, your location, date, time and cloud cover. Location can be the intersection at which you take the measurement, even though latitude and longitude are preferred.

3. If you have one available, you may also use a Sky Quality Meter (SQM) to measure sky brightness, in addition to observing Orion in January through March and Leo in April and May. To use an SQM, be as far away (as possible) from a light or structure as it is high. Hold the SQM at arms length straight up above your head. Press the start button once. Record the number on the meter.

4. Submit your measurements via the web app. If you have a smart phone or tablet, you can submit your measurements as you take them. (Your latitude, longitude, date and time are automatically recorded by the smart phone or tablet.)

5. Try to do the entire length of the street as specified (typically 7 miles plus or minus 2 miles).